

/fit 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



111 III II I 



030 008 678 



T 171 
.S84 
1903 
Copy 1 



INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF 

ALEX. C. HUMPHREYS, M. E., 

PRESIDENT OF THE 

^tetans f nstttute of Cerfmologp, 

HOBOKEN, N. J. 






delivered in 

The Carnegie Laboratory of Engineering 

February 5, 1903 







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INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF 
ALEX. C. HUMPHREYS, M. E., 

PRESIDENT OF THE 

£tetoeng institute of €ecfmoIogp 



Reprinted from 

STEVENS INSTITUTE INDICATOR 

April jgoj 



In subscribing to this oath of office I am profoundly sensible 
of the responsibilities I assume. 

For the two months preceding my acceptance of the presiden- 
cy of Stevens Institute I was constantly studying the many quest- 
ions involved therein, and especially that of my fitness for the 
office. I feared that it would be presumptuous for a man not an 
educator by profession to undertake to carry on Dr. Morton's 
great work ; at the best it seemed to me an experiment of doubt- 
ful wisdom, for failure meant probable injury to the loved Alma 
Mater as the return for serious sacrifices to be made by myself 
and those dear to me. 

In considering the objection that I had not been trained 
as an educator, I was not unmindful, on the other hand, of the 
fact that in my professional career I had been called to direct the 
later studies of graduates of Engineering Schools, including a large 
number of Stevens men, and so had been forced to study and ap- 
praise from the viewpoint of practice, the efficiency of the train- 
ing supplied by a number of our technical schools. In this 
work I had found myself deeply interested ; and in reviewing my 
experiences in this and some other directions in which I had been 
brought into practical contact with educational work, I was 
encouraged to hope that if I accepted this office my lack of train- 



4 Inaugural Address 

ing and experience in the school might in part be compensated 
for by these experiences and my sympathy with the aspirations 
of youth . 

Finally my action was determined by the fact that the call was 
made by the Trustees, Faculty, Alumni Association and many of 
the Alumni individually. 

Since I have been in daily contact with the duties and re- 
sponsibilities of the office I have been more and more impressed 
with the largeness of my undertaking and with the practically 
unlimited opportunities afforded for the exercise of a wise, patient, 
firm and energetic leadership. 

As all this and more is included in my view of the situation, 
necessarily then I am profoundly sensible of my new responsi- 
bilities. But I must ask those at whose instance I have accepted 
this office to understand that they have not shifted their responsi- 
bilities to my shoulders. I shall look to them to help me to carry 
my new burdens and to be patient with me when I hesitate or 
stumble on the way. 

As the circumstances under which I have accepted office 
are somewhat unusual, I have, at the risk of being misunder- 
stood, decided to thus briefly refer to some of the influences under 
which I have acted. 

The responsibility rests upon us all — Trustees, Faculty and 
Alumni — to preserve and further extend and perfect that which has 
been so well built on the noble benefaction of E. A. Stevens. 
The admirable record which has been made during the thirty 
years of Dr. Morton's brilliant, wise and self-sacrificing admin- 
istration will not alone carry the Institute over the obstacles surely 
to be met in the years to come. 

This reference to the work of our honored late President 
leads me to recall with a reverent sense of appreciation the de- 
voted services of Professors Wood, Mayer and Leeds, who are 
with him now resting from their labors. 

While resolving to zealously preserve and develop that which 
has been passed on for a while to our stewardship, let us con- 
sider whether this calls for any departure from the established 
ways. My four months' experience as Acting President, added 
to that gained as Alumnus, Trustee, Engineer and man of busi- 



Alex. C. Humphreys, M. E. 5 

ness, leads me to say emphatically, that though there is much to 
be done there is no change in principle or policy to be desired or 
tolerated. 

The changes to be made are chiefly those called for by the 
increase in the number of students. A glance at the register shows 
that the equipment, methods and administration of twenty years 
ago are no longer adequate to meet our present requirements. Ev- 
en with his own repeated benefactions Dr. Morton was unable to 
keep pace with the requirements as they developed. 

The first ten classes graduated numbered as follows: 

'73, 1; '74,3; '75, 10; '76, 17; '77> 10; '78, 22; '79, 14; 
'80, 9; '81, 17; '82, 14. Total for first ten years, 117. 

The last ten classes graduated numbered as follows : 

'93, 431 '94, 39; '95, 45; '96, 64; '97, 63; '98, 57; '99, 53; 
1900, 53; 1901, 40; 1902,54. Total for the last ten years, 511. 

There have been 987 graduated up to date, of whom 54 
have passed on to that other life where their records as engineers 
are only of moment as affecting their records as men. 

These figures alone do not furnish a fair comparison and 
should be supplemented by a comparison of enrollments. 

The enrollment at the end of the first ten-years period was 

Freshmen 53 

Sophomores 47 

Juniors - 20 

Seniors 12 

Total 132 

and the enrollment at the end of the last ten-years period was 

Freshmen 87 

Sophomores 78 

Juniors 48 

Seniors 55 

Total 268 

The enrollment at the beginning of this school year was 

Freshmen 115 

Sophomores 69 

Juniors 62 

Seniors 50 

Total 296 



6 Inaugural Address 

Though by these last comparisons it appears that we have 
only something more than double the number of students to 
care for than we had twenty years ago, the practical facts are that 
in our upper classes we have nearly five times as many to in- 
struct, and, as most of our class- and lecture-rooms can accommo- 
date only about fifty students, the lower classes have to be 
taught in sections, requiring the professors and instructors to 
duplicate much of their work. 

This all means that we need larger class- and lecture-rooms, 
larger chemical and physical laboratories and shops, a general 
auditorium, additional equipment and additional instructors. 

Another addition, which should be made, is at least one 
dormitory. 

To complete our course in four years requires of the stu- 
dents hard work and long hours. It is thus incumbent on us to 
do our utmost to keep the students in good working condition, 
mentally and physically. 

To this end they should have cheerful, comfortable, sani- 
tary, though simple, lodgings, and plain, wholesome and attract- 
ive food. Men so cared for and provided with facilities for intel- 
ligent recreation should be able to safely undertake a large 
amount of work, and should be less liable to seek relaxation in 
harmful pleasures. 

I am most anxious to promptly secure such an addition to 
our plantas will enable us to offer these more attractive and ele- 
vating surroundings to those of our students who in coming to 
us are cut off from home influences. 

This would add to the cares and responsibilities of the ad- 
ministrative officers, but it would also give us additional oppor- 
tunities to influence the students for good. 

It would also tend to cultivate a healthier college spirit and 
to attract more men from the several sections of the country, 
which would in itself be broadening and mellowing to the stu- 
dent body. 

On the basis of the present fees for instruction the original 
Stevens endowment was at first ample to furnish the additional 
income required to meet the difference between the yearly expenses 
and the income from students. That difference now amounts to 



Alex. C. Humphreys, M. E, 7 

about $100 per year per student. The original endowment would 
now be entirely inadequate to meet our developed requirements, 
and even with the additions made by Dr. Morton from time to 
time, aggregating $150,000, the Carnegie Laboratory and its 
special endowment of $100,000, ffjoo^ooo given at the time of 
our 25th Anniversary by Mrs. E. A. Stevens, Sr., and other addi- 
tions by members of the Stevens family, our endowment is insuf- 
ficient to meet present needs, to say nothing of the additions re- 
quired to be made to our plant and our teaching staff as already 
outlined. Expenditures which the Trustees, upon my earnest 
recommendation, have already authorized lead me to fear a de- 
ficit at the end of this school year. Against this it is encour- 
aging to note that provision is already being made to meet some of 
the deficiencies in our plant. 

Before Dr. Morton's death $60,000 had been subscribed by 
him and the Alumni for a Laboratory of Chemistry. This amount 
proves under present market conditions insufficient for the pur- 
pose, and I am now applying to the Alumni — and the Alumni 
alone — for an additional $60,000 to enable us to build and thor- 
oughly equip a laboratory which will equal, if not surpass, in 
practical efficiency anything of the kind in the world. This is 
a large additional sum to ask from such a small body of men, 
the majority of whom are young and working on salaries; but if 
we succeed — as I believe we shall — this addition is to be named 
the Morton Laboratory of Chemistry, and it will serve as a most 
fitting memorial of our late President. 

In moving into the Carnegie Laboratory of Engineering 
we set free the ground floor of the main building. At compar- 
atively small expense this can be arranged to afford an excellent 
location for larger and more efficient shops. Moving the shops 
from their present location would set free the old auditorium, 
which with certain changes and additions could be restored to 
its original purpose and provide for an audience of seven hun- 
dred. The change, including some additional tools and certain 
other minor, but much-needed, additions to our plant, could be 
effected for a cost not to exceed $25,000; part of this has been 
subscribed contingent upon the whole sum being pledged. 

One important step has been taken towards the beginning 



8 Inaugural Address 

of dormitory life. Col. E. A. Stevens, our Trustee, and his 
brother, Robert L-, sons of our Founder, have notified me that 
apiece of land, 200x100 feet, which they jointly own in the 
block adjoining the Institute's property, admirably located for the 
purpose, will be deeded to the Institute provided we can promptly 
erect thereon a dormitory. Preliminary plans have been drawn 
for a group of three buildings, which can be erected separately 
or together, as circumstances demand or warrant. One of these 
buildings would contain a refectory to cater to all the students 
lodged in the three buildings. Each unit in this group could be 
well made to serve as a separate memorial and named accord- 
ingly. I believe the cost of one of these units could be quickly 
pledged if pledges for the other two could be obtained. The 
entire group would accommodate about no students, and would 
be sufficient for our present needs. 

This would not only greatly increase the efficiency of our 
plant, but would considerably add to our income. 

What I have said will serve to correct the opinion held by 
many that our endowment is sufficient for our needs. There are 
some who know more or less completely of those needs, but hold, 
as I believe, a totally unwarranted opinion as to where we should 
look for relief. After considering the question long and care- 
fully I have decided to openly combat this opinion : namely, that 
as the Institute carries the name of Stevens, the heirs of E. A. 
Stevens should be responsible for its support. This strikes me 
as a most unjust proposition. 

E. A. Stevens bequeathed $650,000 and a block of land for 
an institution of learning. So well has this trust been adminis- 
tered that a new line of educational work has been developed and 
the success achieved has created the demand for the increased 
facilities I have just mentioned. 

Because the world has secured through the original endow- 
ment so much more than could have been reasonably anticipated, 
does that furnish a reason for demanding from the heirs of our 
Founder, after the balance of his fortune has been divided into 
many parts, that they keep pace with this constantly increasing 
financial requirement by constant additions to our endowment. 

Rather, it seems to me, that because of the great work ac- 
complished primarily through the instrumentality of the Stevens 



Alex. C. Humphreys \ M. E. «§ 

endowment, the community and those who have directly and in- 
directly profited by the advances made in technical education 
during the last thirty years — and it would be hard to find in the 
United States those who have not so profited — owe it to E. A. 
Stevens, his heirs, Dr. Morton and those who as Trustees and In- 
structors have faithfully worked with him, to provide the means 
to maintain, extend and perfect that which is already a powerful 
agency for good. 

I have gone so far in speaking on a somewhat delicate sub- 
ject, I may as well go farther in the hope of disposing of this 
question once for all. 

It has been further suggested, that as the Institute carries a 
family name, we have but little chance of securing aid from 
sources outside of that family. I do not doubt that this may 
influence some narrow-minded men against coming to our relief. 
But we can show against this that it has not stayed the helping 
hands of Henry Morton and Andrew Carnegie. 

The evidences are on every side that our rich men are ex- 
ercising more intelligent discrimination in the effort to secure full 
returns on their philanthropic investments. As with their per- 
sonal investments, they are coming to investigate in advance to 
make as sure as possible that their benefactions will secure full 
returns in perpetuity. To such a man it could be readily shown 
that a million dollars added to our present endowment and plant, 
would give a far greater return than could possibly be derived 
from the same amount employed to establish a new institution. 

And now why should not the name of "Stevens" be at- 
tached to our Institution ? Our original endowment was a large 
one for the time when it was made, and it was most natural that 
the Institute should have been named after our Founder, though 
it is a fact that some of the family opposed that course. I can say 
that while in my opinion any change would be most unwise, the 
Stevens family would be the first to urge a change if they believed 
that a majority of the Alumni were in favor of it, or if by so do- 
ing we could secure the co-operation which would enable us to 
enlarge our usefulness. But it cannot be supposed that the 
Alumni would be willing to surrender the prestige which is theirs 
through being known as graduates of Stevens . 



i& Inatigural Addresf 

If we must consider the question of name, it should be seea 
that we offer an advantage rather than otherwise. Such an ad- 
dition to our endowment as I have spoken of would be naturally 
individualized under the name of the donor. That name would 
not be alone, but would stand witb the three great names — 
Stevens, Carnegie, Morton — and this should attract rather than, 
sepek 

In estimating our future requirements we should not fail to* 
recognize that there has been within the last few years a marked 
increase in the demand for technically educated men. It is be- 
ginning to be recognized that the commanding position which 
the United States to-day holds in the fields of industry and 
commerce, is in considerable measure due to the intelligent and 
conscientious^ work done during the last thirty years by our tech- 
nical schools. 

While our country has benefited by a unique combination of 
natural advantages it needed the men technically educated, work- 
ing in an atmosphere most favorable to the full utilization of 
their best powers, to secure from these conditions the exceptional 
prosperity of to-day. 

We can better appreciate our advantages, both as to su- 
periority in the line of technical education and freedom from 
the trammels of caste, when we compare our condition in these 
regards with that of Great Britain ; yes, and even with that of 
Germany. 

This increase in the demand for scientifically trained en- 
gineers is evidenced by the fact that whereas thirty, and even 
ten, years ago employers could select from the graduating classes 
to meet their requirements, to-day many concerns now accept 
these graduates and apply for them a year in advance, without 
being able to exercise any such selection . This has resulted in 
creating some question in the minds of certain employers as to 
whether our methods are now as efficient as in the past. Natural- 
ly they find that the cadet engineers they now hire without the 
advantages of selection do not average as high as those engaged 
in years gone by. 

This does not at all mean that every young man must 
succeed because he is a graduate of Stevens or some other good 



Alex. C. Humphreys, M.E. \\ 

engineering school. It only means that his diploma will give 
aim the opportunity to prove the stuff of which he is made. 

Since Stevens Institute was opened many new engineering 
schools have been organized, and the departments of Applied 
Science in many of our universities have been so developed and 
improved that they have in some cases become the very life o£ 
the universities with which they are connected. 

As we contemplate this change we may be tempted to 
question whether our little -school has a work to perform which 
cannot be safely left to others. Then let us remember how many- 
there are in this vast and growing country requiring, for the na- 
tion's good, to be educated in Applied Science. In thirty years 
Stevens has placed less than one thousand men in the industrial 
ranks. There is room and more than room for all of these schools, 
and we may well wish them all God speed. 

If some time in the future it were found that there were 
more than enough technical schools to suppty the wants of this 
great country, the country should be the gainer, for the fittest 
only would survive. And if under this searching test it were 
found that we were unable to show a reason for our continued 
existence, we could at least take comfort from the reflection that 
we had helped in no mean degree to make possible the progress 
in educational methods with which we had finally been unable to 
keep pace. 

But I prefer to believe that let the standard be developed 
never so high, Stevens will be found steadily in the van. 

In the past there has been a tendency in our technical 
schools to specialize too closely. Graduates of technical schools 
are sometimes to be heard regretting that they had not first taken 
a B. A. course. Part of this is no doubt a well-grounded regret 
occasioned by a too narrow training, but part of it is the natural 
inclination we all experience to long for that we do not possess, 
and lightly regard what we have grown familiar with through 
years of use. No doubt every possible effort should be made to 
include in the engineer-students curriculum all that the four 
years will safely contain of such non-technical studies as will be 
best qualified to make the course broad as a whole. But let us be 
careful that the reaction from the fault of too close specialization 
does not carry us to the other extreme. 



12' Inaugural Address 

First our students should be thoroughly and completely 
trained in the fundamentals required in the practice of their pro- 
fession. They must be given a working knowledge of the higher 
mathematics and an accurate knowledge of the fundamental laws 
of nature; and throughout the course they must be trained to ap- 
ply in the drawing-room, the shops and laboratories, the mathe- 
matics, chemistry and physic (especially mechanics- and electric- 
ity) learned in the lecture- and class-rooms. 

That is to say, there must be as complete a co-ordination of 
theory and practice as is possible in an institution of learning. 

The tremendous activity in the industrial field creates a con- 
stant pressure for the inclusion in our course of closer specializa- 
tions within our specialty. As our course is now so crowded that 
no additional work can be safely included without the elimination 
of an equal amount, this pressure if not resisted will almost surely 
result in the slighting of the essential fundamentals. 

As in the past we have stood for the harmony of theory and 
practice and thoroughness, so we have stood for concentration on 
one broad course in Mechanical Engineering. While we have thus 
differentiated from the other broader divisions of the engineering 
profession such as Civil, Mining. and Electrical, we have covered 
much that is included in these other divisions. 

In any case we cannot expect to graduate our men as engin- 
eers. As they get out in the world probably natural bent or necces- 
sity will lead most of them to further specialize. If so and they 
have taken advantage of the opportunities we have offered them 
and even forced upon them they will find they are able to quickly 
and surely build upon the broad and strong foundations they have 
here laid. 

There are certain studies which cannot be properly or safely 
omitted from any engineering course, be it Mechanical, Civil, 
Mining, Electrical or any other. I should include in this list 
English, Logic, History, Modern Languages, Economics, and 
Business Methods. 

Outside of the question of culture an engineer needs a working 
knowledge of his own language. He must be able to convey to 
his employers or associates in language concise and explicit the 
results of his w r ork or investigations. 



Alex. C. Humphreys, M. E. 13 

In the Department of Economics he should at least have suf- 
ficient insight into the science to guard himself against the dan- 
ger of drawing conclusions from insufficient or inconsistent data. 

He should have such a knowledge of business methods and 
especially the principles of Accounting as to qualify him to exer- 
cise a close and independent supervision of manufacturing cost. 
He must appreciate the necessity for and be capable of instituting 
a system of charges, based upon a complete study of local condi- 
tions, to provide for the depreciation of plant and stock ; he must 
appreciate the danger of confusing capital or investment items 
with revenue or expense items. 

While we cannot expect to give the engineer-student a work- 
ing knowledge of the law of contracts, we should try to give him 
such instruction as will serve to warn him of the pitfalls to be 
avoided and to impress him with the wisdom of seeking competent 
legal advice in all cases outside of established routine. 

All this and more must be covered in a course which claims to 
harmonize theory and practice, for the engineer who is most prac- 
tical in the shop may be most unpractical in business affairs — and 
here it is to be understood that the engineer must find his success 
within the limitations of commercial conditions. 

Much of this part of the instruction may well be included 
in lectures on Engineering Practice, and preferably these lectures 
should be delivered by men who have themselves been successful 
as engineers and speak from that standpoint : for it is most dif- 
ficult to impress upon students the necessity for the inclusion of 
these subjects in a course of engineering study. This applies par- 
ticularly to the study of English, and every possible effort should 
be made to quickly impress upon the Freshman Classes the rea- 
son why English is necessarily included in the curriculum; unless 
the sympathy of the students can be promptly secured in connec- 
tion with this difficult study, there is but little hope that much 
good can be accomplished in the time available. 

To do in four years all the work which has been here most 
briefly outlined the student should be strong mentally and physi- 
cally and be possessed of a definite purpose. 

There is danger of overstrain , but I firmly believe the danger 
of injury is less than in the case of the courses in some of our 



14 Inaugural Address 

universities, where, according to our own observation, confirmed 
by the views lately expressed by a number of the university presi- 
dents, the students can take their B. A. degree in four years with- 
out any sustained effort. This is an enervating influence to which 
many young men cannot safely be subjected. Our students are 
better able to sustain the strain to which we subject them because 
they average in years somewhat higher than those entering the 
universities for the first degree. Our last three classes averaged 
respectively at entrance. 18^ years, 18^3 years and 18^ years: 
a general average of say 18^ years. 

This brings the average age of the graduate to more than 
22^ years, as there are more of the younger students than the 
older who drop by the way. 

This should dispose of the question of lengthening the course 
to five years, except in the case of the few who are specially qual- 
ified to carry on work in engineering research. 

There can be no question that during the next decade we are 
to see many changes in our educational methods. We must here 
be prepared to listen to all suggestions with an open mind and 
then be careful not to act rashly. During the last quarter century 
there have been in the United States not a few false moves made in 
our educational schemes, and especially has there been a tendency 
at times to spread out thin at the expense of thoroughness. 

In looking over the list of our Alumni and the work they have 
performed and are now performing, we can obtain therefrom 
enough encouragement to warrant us in moving slowly when rad- 
ically different methods are suggested for our adoption. 

When we think of these changes to come we may well heart- 
en ourselves by recalling that many of our great universities and 
important colleges and separate technical schools are under the 
direction of men who are statesmen as well as scholars. 

While it is our duty as teachers and guides to see to it first 
that the men entrusted to us should be producers and not depen- 
dents, that the problem of self-support should first be honestly 
and squarely met, we should further endeavor to cultivate in them 
aspirations for the higher things of this life and the life to come. 

The motive for the struggle for success may at first be largely 
selfish, but, as we all can acknowledge with gratitude, from lower 
motives can be evolved those of a higher order. 



Alex. C. Humphreys , M. E. 15 

While we of the Faculty cannot give our students religious 
training, we can be careful to set them an example of absolute 
honesty and straightforwardness. We can best eliminate meanness 
and trickiness from the student body by being ourselves candid, 
just and, as far as our natures will permit, sympathetic. We may 
well recall the names of the headmasters of certain schools whose 
influence upon the lives of their scholars has been potent to the 
end. It was not the curriculum or the system of teaching which 
made these schools so effective for good, but the personal influence 
of these men who were deeply sensible of the responsibility of be- 
ing intrusted with these young lives during the formative period. 

Even in a school like ours the Faculty can exert a strong per- 
sonal influence for good and can, if they will, create an atmos- 
phere of honesty which should be of special benefit to the stud- 
ents in connection with that vexed question of examinations. The 
responsibility for honest examinations first rests on the examiners. 
And we must remember that the man who is not honest in the 
class-room defrauds his Alma Mater and weakens and debauches 
his own character. 

God grant that such an influence shall always be around the 
students of Stevens and that so they may go out into the world 
not only honestly trained to take their place in the engineering 
profession, but also influenced to do their whole duty as citizens 
and self-respecting, God-fearing gentlemen. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 

o' 030 008 678 



